NEW APPROACH ON DRUGS

Amherst has decided that there has to be a better way to keep children from
using drugs than the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Now town
officials have to go out and find it.

The School Committee's decision to drop the DARE program, expected to be
formalized at its meeting on Tuesday, follows a similar Town Meeting vote.
It would make Amherst the first area community to discontinue DARE. Under
the program, an Amherst police officer spent 17 weeks a year imparting an
anti-drug message to sixth-graders. Many other communities, including
Northampton and Easthampton, remain committed to their DARE programs.
However, Amherst is not alone in dropping DARE, which has come under closer
scrutiny after some studies have questioned its effectiveness. Amherst
cannot be faulted for its willingness to try something new, as long as it
moves to fill the vacuum in drug education that will be created by the loss
of DARE. One of the reasons cited for the decision was the town's recent
survey of teen drug and alcohol use. Preliminary results indicate that drug
use among Amherst teens exceeds national rates. While that may be an
indictment of DARE, it also underscores the need for a strong anti-drug
program in Amherst. Young people in Amherst may be more prone to using
drugs for two reasons unique to where they live: the easy availability of
drugs and the town's perceived permissiveness about drugs. Voters sent a
message to everyone in town in March when they endorsed a ballot question
supporting the legalization of marijuana. This month, about 1,000 people
gathered on the common for a pro-marijuana rally, including some who openly
smoked marijuana, another example of a climate that only encourages young
people to experiment.

The survey, sponsored by the Amherst Community Partnership on Alcohol and
Substance Abuse Among Teens, may help identify particular programs that
have the best chance of success. It may be necessary, for instance, to
begin discussing drugs with children at an earlier age. Based on the
survey's finding that drug use jumps from 10th to 11th grade, more emphasis
on that age group may also be considered.

Whatever Amherst decides to do, other communities no doubt will be watching
the town's foray into new anti-drug efforts.